Pros: Big, difficult, clean, and just overall great course.
It is a long hard course. It is nice to play around the lake and they keep the course clean and well maintained.

Cons: It can be overly difficult especially if it's your first time. Rangers can be an a$$. Don't lose a disc in the lake as you can't get it back without a retreiver. Can be hard to find the next hole sometimes.

Other Thoughts: Great course but if it is your first time have a local or a map.

Pros: The main pro is there is more than 18 holes and concrete tee pads for both pro and amateur. I typically enjoy longer courses and courses with water hazards and this course challenges even the best. There are a few super long holes that require precision throws. The water adds an element of difficulty not found at many other parks and others have explained the extreme difficulty of the shots you are expected to hit. There is a wide variety of holes and the course does make most of its elevation. I would advise bringing a burner or a floater due to the challenge the water holes pose. This course does mix up tight throws as well as open throws. The scenery is nice and it is well manicured. It is always a plus to have both amateur and pro tees and I prefer concrete like most people. Even playing from the amateur tees is difficult. This is probably one of if not the hardest courses I have ever played and I enjoyed the challenge.

Cons: Well to start off this course goes right thru a multipurpose park which greatly interfers with the course. I am reviewing this course in particular because I found it unacceptable that I had so many holes interrupted due to other people enjoying the park. This park is rated highly due to the difficulty factor and my friends and I were thoroughly disappointed that so many holes were unplayable because the course went thru a park with so many other people around and in the way. I personally enjoy a course with a challenge but when so many holes that can not be played because of other people enjoying the park I find that disappointing in a highly rated course. I am from out of town and I am only able to play it at peak hours when people are there. There were even people fishing that got in the way making some of the water holes unplayable. There was even a little girl that picked up our discs on a hole, that's how many other activities go through the course. I also was extremely disappointed with the lack of signage making navigation difficult. There were no signs to direct from hole to hole and my group wasted considerable time attempting to find the next hole.

Other Thoughts: If you would like to play a championship level gold course this is the one to play if you are looking for a very difficult course that will challenge your game. I am fortunate to have played highly rated courses around the country and I personally feel this one is slightly overrated. I understand this course has some exceptionally long and difficult holes but I do not believe that these factors are enough to make it a champion level course. There are some fun holes on this course but to have so many holes that become unplayable because of other park users is unacceptable. I would love to give this course a higher rating but putting a long, difficult course thru a busy park that makes the course not fully playable deserves a lower rating. I have thought much about the rating and it is difficult to for me to rate this above a 4. The course has many positive aspects however you may be disappointed like myself. I am fine with others not liking my review. Despite me not giving it a 5 star rating I do believe this is a course that everyone should play at least once and definitely play if they are in the quad city area.

Pros: -Some of the funnest holes I have ever played in my life.
-Good Teepads.
-Decent Teesigns
-Beautiful Park
-Makes you use every shot in your arsenal to shot well.
-So many holes that played close or over the water.

Cons: The floe from hole to hole was really the only bad part about this course. It took me a half hour to find 5's teepad and then another half hour to figure out where the heck the pin was.

Took me about 20 minutes to find 21's teepad.

I played at 8am and even at that time there were people walking all over the course.

Other Thoughts: Loved playing this course. It took me 3 hours to play it by myself with no one else on the course because of the lack of signage to direct you to the next hole. Other than that it is a must play for anybody.

Pros: - Let me begin by saying that West Lake Park is the most difficult course I have ever played. Waay tougher than Lemon Lake Gold, Leviathan, Idlewild, Charlotte's Web, et al. West Lake Park will push you down, skin your knees up, call you Sally, take your lunch money, and make you feel BAD about it in a general sort of way.
- The course plays through a pretty park. Plenty of open grassy park-style golf interspersed with extremely tight, wooded, technical golf. Then, on top of that add a ridiculously high number of very challenging water holes, many with fairly long carries and less-than-stellar safety routes.
- Elevation. Nothing spectacular here in terms of loss or gain, but plenty of slight to moderate elevation used very well.
- A wide selection of hole types with good balance between right and left turning holes. There are uphill wooded bombs (#20 long is the most punishingly tight hole I've ever played), 850'+ holes that force long water carries to score well (#5 long), shorter water carries (#'s 2, 5 short), an elevated causeway with water on both sides (#'s 5 and 13), et al. A massive downhill bomb is about the only thing missing here.
- Amenities: no complaints here. Good signs, tees, and baskets.

Cons: - West Lake Park is a busy, multi-use park. Picnic benches, grills, walking paths, sunbathers, fishermen, and more are competing with the disc golf course for space. I've never seen so many benches in the middle of fairways on such a highly rated course. Our round was a nightmare of waiting, throwing meekly around people, avoiding the better water carries due to having to bail out to safety zones in order to not risk hitting fishermen, etc. Not fun, not safe.
- Punishing. I've played several Gold level courses that allow lesser players (like myself) to keep up with better players by way of hitting defined landing zones, keeping on the fairway, and making putts. That sort of golf does not exist here. The premium is on big arms, almost exclusively, which gets really old after a while. The short tees DO alleviate this issue to some degree, but overall this is the least forgiving gold course I've played. Some might see this as a pro, I get it.
- The flow is awkward in a couple of places. #'s 5 and 13 share the narrow raised isthmus that divides the two lakes. A decent drive from #5 longs SHOULD be able to hit the water carry and avoid the causeway, but if fishermen are at the landing zone players are forced to take the causeway, creating a conflict with #13 which plays back along the isthmus.

Other Thoughts: - I wanted to like West Lake Park. I really did. There are some amazing holes out here and the difficulty level is pretty stunning (generally in a good way); however, fighting the non-disc golf masses on, like, every other hole got old really fast, especially when it took away some of the best shots and the best holes. Until some safety concerns are alleviated (at least remove the picnic benches from the freakin' fairways, geez!) I cannot rate West Lake higher than a 4 disc rating.

Pros: --5 star course strictly when critiquing the individual holes
--Some of the most challenging disc golf you will ever play
--Signature holes all over the course. Probably 10 different holes that are among the best I have ever played.
--Despite being so long, it never feels like it is long just for the sake of being long. There are well defined ideal landing areas on the par 4 and par 5 holes
--The lake that this course is centered around is beautiful, and combined with the elevation changes it will make you stop and stare often

Cons: --The rough is incredibly punishing here...far too much so. And I don't mean just in terms of challenge, but rather it is painful due to thorns and frustrating due to lost discs. If your accuracy is off, you will have a long day
--Course design is odd in some spots. Bring a map.
--Safety issues. This is the reason I docked a half star from the score. Holes 10-11 play right through a picnic area which is ridiculous. A couple other holes play near areas where people like to sit. I would recommend playing very early on days where the weather is great.
--Hole 5 pro pad is pointing in the wrong direction and a hill prevents a sideways run up. If you want to cut across the lake at all you will only get a one step throw, and the distance is too long for most people to clear without a full runup.

Other Thoughts: The first time I played this course it was probably the least amount of fun I have ever had playing disc golf. I lost a ton of discs in the lake, I had cuts and scrapes all over me from the rough, I scored like crap, I felt like crap, I was worn out and mentally beat down. I swore I wouldn't go back for a long time.

However, in the back of my mind I knew I needed to give it another shot. I prepared myself this time. I stocked up on used throwaway discs, I am in better shape physically, and I mentally prepared myself the entire week leading up to my round. Despite shooting a very bad score again, I had a blast and actually wanted to play a second round despite the fact that we just spent 3 hours tackling this 24 hole, 2 mile long monster.

If you aren't a highly skilled golfer, please heed my warning: you can't come here unprepared and expect to have a good time. I ran across another golfer today playing this course for the first time, and ran across him again in the parking lot after he had quit on hole 5. This is not an abnormal occurance...there are lots of people in the Quad Cities who will not play this course due to the difficulty, and I understand their pain because I felt the same thing after my first time.

But alas...I have survived my second trip and am incredibly anxious to be able to play it again. The holes are just too magnificent in design, beauty, challenge, fun, and sheer audacity.

Pros: This course challenges every part of your game. It has four legitimate par 5 holes (5,13,15,18) and each of these offers different types of challenges on the tee and from the fairway. There are water carries, landing zones sloped into water or deep rough, and terrain that leads to unpredictably swirling winds. Also there are several par 4 holes (3,12,14,20,21,23,24) and a couple of tweeners that most players will be happy to get a 3 on (1,8,16).

There is a great balance of righty-lefty friendly holes, and you will definitely need your forehand, anhyzer, and turnover skills on this course. Although most holes have some elevation change, there are also a few flat holes, and the course is well-balanced between wooded and open. Some of the rough is very punishing, but the fairways are beautifully manicured.

Several of the holes are breathtaking when you step up to the tee, either because of the aesthetics or because of the heartpounding anticipation of throwing 300ft over water with a stiff swirling head or crosswind (the forced water carries offer shorter bailout zones).

The course is very long, but someone who can throw 270-300 and keep it in the fairway can score well. With the punishing rough, lots of OB (pavement and water), and sometimes grueling conditions, it is easy to get frustrated and lose focus. I've seen some big-armed players end up with big scores in this way.

I like exercise and I prefer to feel like I've had a workout after disc golf. West Lake never disappoints on that criterion.

Cons: There are a couple of minor cons which keep me from giving it a 5.

One is the fact that the toughest water hazard tee shots are mostly favoring RHBH throws. This is minor though, being balanced by numerous left-to-right shots either from the tee or fairway drive (3,12,14,15,16,21,24), although the hazards on those are not as punishing.

The second is the picnic area on 10,11, which can make those two holes unplayable during summer weekend afternoons. But they are not the signature holes by any means, and skipping from 9 to 12 is not a bad course flow, so a 22-hole course here is still phenomenal.

Despite these minor cons I would say this course tops all 5 of the DGCR top 40 that I have played to date.

Other Thoughts: The course is best played early in the morning or on weekdays, when the other park users are not as common. I like to play early in the morning, and when given some courtesy, the other park users tend to be friendly and curious about disc golf, so I don't count this as a con.

Also, the park doesn't allow swimming for discs, so if you can't reach it from shore, it is gone. Also not a con in my opinion.

Pros: -24 holes, most of which have 2 tees.
-located in a very well kept park
-lots of change in elevation and holes with different distances
-The campground it is located at is very nice so it is a very good place to make a weekend out of.
-very challenging

Cons: -water is in play on many of the holes so if you don't want to lose a disc bring one that floats
-the course is very difficult, many of the reviews said how hard it was and I really didn't believe them until I got here.

But these are really the only bad things I could think of about the course and in many ways they aren't even bad.

Other Thoughts: The campground is first come first serve so if you are planning on staying get there early to make sure you get a spot!

Pros: great, difficult shots- lots of variety and serious risk/reward- go for long hero drives on many of these holes at great peril of losing your disc!

scenic views in the park on the summer evening i was there.

Cons: the tee signs are beautiful, but given the odd layout of the course, i'm very surprised that they don't point towards the next tees.

course plays near picnic tables on several holes, and since some of the pins are blind, you need to walk ahead and check for pedestrians to avoid hitting people- i had a sick drive on 2 that landed 10 ft from the pin, and also 10 ft from a couple making out on the lakeshore. woops

the rough was too rough for me to really enjoy myself- i was able to keep my disc out of the water, which i was very happy about, but on all the holes near the woods, the forest/prairie grass was so thick that shots which went in there were nearly impossible to find. losing discs or having to spend unreasonably long amounts of time to find them sucks all the fun out of the game for me, especially when it's not my fault: 10 feet off the fairway should not be an hour of searching or a lost disc...

Other Thoughts: this is a nice, well maintained park that i imagine has the resources to do some clearing of the woods to make this course more user- friendly- the course is way challenging enough without the disc-eating rough. for now, i imagine late winter/early spring being the best time to play here.